> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://copier-docs.redfox-capital.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://copier-docs.redfox-capital.com/config/directional-risk-strategy-guide.md). # Directional Risk Strategy Guide ### 📋 Overview Directional Risk Strategy allows you to adjust lot sizes and enable/disable orders based on trade direction (BUY vs SELL). This is useful when you have a market bias or want to trade only one direction. **Key Concept:** Instead of equal lot sizes for BUY and SELL, you can risk more on BUYs (bullish bias) or more on SELLs (bearish bias), or trade only one direction. *** ### ⚙️ Settings Explained #### **1. DirectionalRiskPreset** ``` DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_DISABLED | PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE | PRESET_BUY_VERY_AGGRESSIVE | PRESET_BUY_ONLY | PRESET_SELL_AGGRESSIVE | PRESET_SELL_VERY_AGGRESSIVE | PRESET_SELL_ONLY | PRESET_BALANCED | PRESET_CUSTOM ``` *** ### 🎯 Preset Configurations #### **PRESET\_DISABLED** (Default) ``` Buy: 100% risk (normal) Sell: 100% risk (normal) ``` * No directional bias * Standard risk management applies * **Use when:** No market opinion, trade both directions equally *** #### **PRESET\_BUY\_AGGRESSIVE** ``` Buy: 150% risk (1.5x multiplier) Sell: 100% risk (normal) ``` **Example:** * Base risk: 1% per trade * BUY signal: EA risks 1.5% * SELL signal: EA risks 1% **Use when:** * Bullish market trend * You expect more profit from BUY trades * Want larger positions on BUYs **Real Example:** ``` Signal: EURUSD BUY, SL 50 pips Balance: $10,000 Base Risk: 1% = $100 Normal lot: 0.20 lot With PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE: 0.30 lot (50% larger) ``` *** #### **PRESET\_BUY\_VERY\_AGGRESSIVE** ``` Buy: 200% risk (2x multiplier) Sell: 100% risk (normal) ``` **Example:** * Base risk: 1% * BUY trades: 2% risk (double) * SELL trades: 1% risk (normal) **Use when:** * Very strong bullish conviction * Most signals are expected to be profitable BUYs * ⚠️ Higher risk - use carefully! *** #### **PRESET\_BUY\_ONLY** ``` Buy: 100% risk (normal) Sell: DISABLED (orders blocked) ``` **What happens:** * BUY signals: Opens normally * SELL signals: Completely ignored/skipped * EA logs: "Sell orders are disabled by directional risk preset" **Use when:** * Only want to trade long positions * Strong bullish bias * Bearish signals historically unprofitable **Example Scenario:** ``` Signal 1: XAUUSD BUY → ✅ Opens order Signal 2: EURUSD SELL → ⚠️ Skipped Signal 3: GBPUSD BUY → ✅ Opens order ``` *** #### **PRESET\_SELL\_AGGRESSIVE** ``` Buy: 100% risk (normal) Sell: 150% risk (1.5x multiplier) ``` **Use when:** * Bearish market trend * Expect better performance from SELL trades * Want larger short positions *** #### **PRESET\_SELL\_VERY\_AGGRESSIVE** ``` Buy: 100% risk (normal) Sell: 200% risk (2x multiplier) ``` **Use when:** * Very strong bearish conviction * Most profitable signals expected to be SELLs *** #### **PRESET\_SELL\_ONLY** ``` Buy: DISABLED (orders blocked) Sell: 100% risk (normal) ``` **What happens:** * BUY signals: Completely ignored * SELL signals: Opens normally **Use when:** * Only want short positions * Strong bearish bias * Long signals historically unprofitable *** #### **PRESET\_BALANCED** ``` Buy: 100% risk Sell: 100% risk ``` * Same as PRESET\_DISABLED * Explicit equal treatment * Use for clarity in configuration *** #### **PRESET\_CUSTOM** ``` Allows you to set your own multipliers ``` *** ### 🔧 Custom Multipliers (PRESET\_CUSTOM only) When `DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_CUSTOM`, you can set: #### **BuyMultiplier** ``` BuyMultiplier = 1.0 // 1.0 = normal, 1.5 = +50%, 2.0 = double, 0.5 = half ``` **Examples:** * `1.0` = Normal BUY risk * `1.3` = 30% more risk on BUYs * `0.7` = 30% less risk on BUYs * `2.5` = 2.5x risk on BUYs (very aggressive!) * `0` = Disable BUY orders #### **SellMultiplier** ``` SellMultiplier = 1.0 ``` Same logic as BuyMultiplier but for SELL orders. #### **BuyMaxLot** ``` BuyMaxLot = 0 // 0 = use global LotMax ``` * Set maximum lot size specifically for BUY orders * Overrides global `LotMax` for BUYs * `0` = uses global setting **Example:** ``` LotMax = 0.50 // Global max BuyMaxLot = 0.80 // BUY orders can go up to 0.80 SellMaxLot = 0.30 // SELL orders limited to 0.30 ``` #### **SellMaxLot** ``` SellMaxLot = 0 ``` Maximum lot size for SELL orders. *** ### 📊 Real-World Examples #### **Example 1: Bullish Gold Trader** **Scenario:** Trading XAUUSD, believe gold will go up long-term. **Configuration:** ``` DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE MaxRiskPerTrade = 1% ``` **Results:** ``` Signal: XAUUSD BUY, SL 50 pips → Opens with 1.5% risk (0.30 lot if calculated) Signal: XAUUSD SELL, SL 50 pips → Opens with 1% risk (0.20 lot if calculated) ``` **Outcome:** More profit potential from BUY trades you believe in. *** #### **Example 2: Only Sell EURUSD** **Scenario:** ECB dovish, USD strong, only want short EUR. **Configuration:** ``` DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_SELL_ONLY ``` **Results:** ``` Signal: EURUSD SELL → ✅ Executes Signal: EURUSD BUY → ⚠️ Blocked (logged as "Buy orders disabled") Signal: EURUSD SELL → ✅ Executes ``` *** #### **Example 3: Custom Asymmetric Risk** **Scenario:** Want 2x risk on BUYs, 0.5x risk on SELLs. **Configuration:** ``` DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_CUSTOM BuyMultiplier = 2.0 SellMultiplier = 0.5 BuyMaxLot = 1.0 SellMaxLot = 0.20 ``` **Results:** ``` Base risk: 1% BUY signal: - Risk: 2% (doubled) - Max lot: 1.0 SELL signal: - Risk: 0.5% (halved) - Max lot: 0.20 ``` *** #### **Example 4: Moderate Directional Bias** **Scenario:** Slightly bullish but still want to trade both directions. **Configuration:** ``` DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_CUSTOM BuyMultiplier = 1.3 // 30% more on BUYs SellMultiplier = 0.8 // 20% less on SELLs ``` **Result:** Subtle bias without extreme positions. *** #### **Example 5: Testing One Direction** **Scenario:** Want to backtest BUY-only strategy. **Configuration:** ``` DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_BUY_ONLY ``` **Benefit:** * Clean backtest of long-only strategy * No need to manually filter signals * Can compare vs SELL\_ONLY and BALANCED *** ### 💡 Strategy Ideas #### **1. Trend Following** During **uptrend:** ``` PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE or PRESET_BUY_VERY_AGGRESSIVE ``` During **downtrend:** ``` PRESET_SELL_AGGRESSIVE or PRESET_SELL_VERY_AGGRESSIVE ``` *** #### **2. Carry Trade** For currency pairs where you earn swap on longs: ``` PRESET_BUY_ONLY or BuyMultiplier = 1.5, SellMultiplier = 0.5 ``` *** #### **3. Index Trading** Stock indices tend to go up long-term: ``` PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE ``` Short-term trading during crashes: ``` PRESET_SELL_ONLY ``` *** #### **4. Commodity Bias** **Gold (bullish long-term):** ``` PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE ``` **Oil (volatile, short opportunities):** ``` PRESET_BALANCED or PRESET_SELL_AGGRESSIVE ``` *** #### **5. News-Based** **Before positive news (ECB rate cut expected):** ``` PRESET_SELL_ONLY on EURUSD ``` **After news (if trend reverses):** ``` Switch to PRESET_BUY_ONLY ``` *** ### ⚠️ Important Warnings #### **❌ Don't Use Without Reason** Bad: ``` DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_BUY_ONLY Reason: "I just like BUYs" ``` Good: ``` DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_BUY_ONLY Reason: "Strong uptrend on 4H/Daily, fundamentals bullish" ``` *** #### **❌ Don't Forget to Switch** * Market conditions change! * Uptrend → Downtrend: Change from BUY\_AGGRESSIVE to SELL\_AGGRESSIVE * Set calendar reminders to review settings weekly *** #### **❌ Multipliers > 2.0 Are Dangerous** ``` BuyMultiplier = 3.0 // 3x risk = VERY risky! ``` * Can blow account quickly * Only use > 2.0 if you have **very strong** conviction * Prefer 1.0-1.5 range for safety *** #### **❌ Testing Required** * Always backtest new directional settings * Run on demo for 2-4 weeks * Verify performance before live *** ### 🎯 Best Practices #### ✅ **1. Start with PRESET\_DISABLED** * Get comfortable with standard trading first * Add directional bias only after consistent results #### ✅ **2. Use Moderate Multipliers** ``` Good: 1.3 - 1.5 Risky: 2.0 - 2.5 Dangerous: > 3.0 ``` #### ✅ **3. Align with Higher Timeframes** * Daily/Weekly uptrend → BUY\_AGGRESSIVE * Daily/Weekly downtrend → SELL\_AGGRESSIVE #### ✅ **4. Combine with Filters** ``` DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE + ListSymbol = "XAUUSD" // Only on Gold ``` #### ✅ **5. Document Your Bias** Keep notes: ``` Date: 2024-10-28 Setting: PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE Reason: Fed dovish, expect USD weakness Review Date: 2024-11-15 ``` *** ### 🔍 How EA Logs Directional Decisions When you enable directional risk, EA will log: ``` ========== DIRECTIONAL RISK CONFIGURATION ========== Preset: PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE Buy Orders: ENABLED (Multiplier: 1.5x) Sell Orders: ENABLED (Multiplier: 1x) ===================================================== ``` When order is blocked: ``` Buy orders are disabled by directional risk preset ``` When multiplier is applied: ``` Base risk: 1.0% Direction: BUY Applied multiplier: 1.5x Final risk: 1.5% Calculated lot: 0.30 ``` *** ### 📊 Performance Comparison #### **Test Results** (Example - Your results may vary) **Symbol:** XAUUSD **Period:** 3 months **Signals:** 100 total (50 BUY, 50 SELL) | Preset | Profit | Drawdown | Win Rate | | --------------- | ------ | -------- | ----------------- | | DISABLED | +15% | -8% | 55% | | BUY\_AGGRESSIVE | +22% | -12% | 58% BUY, 52% SELL | | BUY\_ONLY | +18% | -10% | 58% | | SELL\_ONLY | +8% | -6% | 52% | **Conclusion:** BUY\_AGGRESSIVE was most profitable but with higher drawdown. *** ### 💼 When to Use Each Preset | Market Condition | Recommended Preset | | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | Strong uptrend | BUY\_AGGRESSIVE or BUY\_VERY\_AGGRESSIVE | | Strong downtrend | SELL\_AGGRESSIVE or SELL\_VERY\_AGGRESSIVE | | Sideways/Ranging | BALANCED or DISABLED | | Bullish fundamentals | BUY\_AGGRESSIVE | | Bearish fundamentals | SELL\_AGGRESSIVE | | Testing strategy | BUY\_ONLY or SELL\_ONLY | | No clear bias | DISABLED | *** ### 🚀 Quick Start Guide #### **Step 1:** Analyze Market * Check trend on Daily/Weekly * Review fundamentals * Identify bias (bullish/bearish/neutral) #### **Step 2:** Choose Preset ``` Strong bias → AGGRESSIVE or VERY_AGGRESSIVE Moderate bias → CUSTOM (1.3-1.5 multiplier) No bias → DISABLED Testing → _ONLY presets ``` #### **Step 3:** Monitor & Adjust * Review results weekly * Adjust if market changes * Document reasons for changes *** ### 📞 Support **Common Questions:** **Q: Can I change preset during live trading?** A: Yes, but EA restart required. Close positions first for clean state. **Q: What if I set BuyMultiplier = 0?** A: Same as BUY\_ONLY preset - BUY orders disabled. **Q: Does this affect pending orders?** A: Yes, all order types (market, limit, stop) affected equally. **Q: Can I use different settings per symbol?** A: Not directly. Use separate EA instances or file config feature. *** **Remember:** Directional bias should be based on analysis, not gut feeling! 📈📉